#1 - Ready for your constant state of celebration

[Skatejoy]

I lied about going to sleep. There are more pictures here in the album.

couchie - These two are for you.

[Couch Tomato]

gurgle gurgle

somebody cal 9 1........................ah

when did my pumpkin become a MAN! Wow, he looks so good in that first picture. So handsome.

I can't wait to dive into all of your pictures. Yours too Buzzie! And Invisibleson.

What other concerts are ya'll going to?

[bottlecap]

I'll chime in about the pictures - Whooo HOOO!! I have to think with all the money floating around the Clay Nation, and the organizational skills the fandom has demonstrated, we could afford to support a group of photographers and videographers full-time. What do you think? Skatejoy, I know it would be a burden for you to have to spend all that time with Jerome, maybe even sharing a bus with him, but I have confidence that you're up to the task.

So, I was a little late in turning over my calender to August. Why didn't somebody remind me that the picture was Tux in the Grass? Yowsa!

Since Clay has finally figured out I won't come to him, and that he needs to come to me for this tour, I'll be seeing him for the first time two weeks from today at the Toledo Zoo. It's almost unbearably exciting! The local news had a twenty second piece about Hootie and the Blowfish playing there last night, so I hope Clay will get some coverage, too.

[Skatejoy]

we could afford to support a group of photographers and videographers full-time.  What do you think?  Skatejoy, I know it would be a burden for you to have to spend all that time with Jerome, maybe even sharing a bus with him, but I have confidence that you're up to the task.

I'm all about sacrifice for the group good. I'm sure I could hack a month of traveling with the band. HaHa.

BTW, thanks for the reminder to turn my calendar. I'd hate to miss out on tux in the grass!

[diamondjake2001]

Clay posted in his blog again. He really is such a tease!

[Couch Tomato]

Loved the blog entry. Love the clack. Buzztechie and Skatejoy..WOW, your pictures are stunning. Going back for another look. BT you must feel like ObiWan!!

[Couch Tomato]

Another Ben Werner article. His mom is a member of Clayversity.

Don't bet on payola ever going away

Don't bet on payola ever going away

By Ben Wener, The Orange County Register

August 2, 2005

My mother was the first to tell me about the payola scandal --the one involving Sony BMG, New York's crusading attorney general and a $10 million pittance settlement.

You remember my mother the Claymaniac, don't you? That darling fanatic whose nickname at Clayversity, a message board for other Clay Aiken fans, is OCRegMom?

Right. Her.

So if she's bringing this up, I know it's because she's worried about how it has affected Clay. My mother hasn't mentioned an entertainment story in two years that hasn't led to its bearing on Clay's career. You'd think she was reaping dividends on his album sales.

"Why do you care?" I asked. "You don't listen to the radio."

Besides, I told her, payola is an ugly industry given. It may be sidelined for a while, but it will never be fully stopped.

It's a pay-per-play practice in which record labels ply radio station bigwigs with cash and goodies to get tunes more spins, and it has been around since the dawn of AM. Though made illegal in 1960, after the Alan Freed-centered scandals of the `50s, anyone with half a brain should have suspected such hit-brokering and bribery continues to this day.

When Jennifer Lopez, Kelly Clarkson and Lindsay Lohan appeared at this year's Wango Tango bonanza in Anaheim, Calif. -- presented by KIIS-FM, a crown jewel in media giant Clear Channel's empire --do you think they did it just because they love their fans? Well, maybe they did, but their contract-keepers offered those performances so their singles would get increased airplay on the station. How could they not, right? You play the show, you get promoted.

Change the names to Audioslave and Foo Fighters and KROQ, or Snoop Dogg and Power 106, and you get the same equation. It is as pervasive as New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer contends.

But do the many revelations in subpoenaed e-mail really surprise anyone? Given such blatant "playola" at radio festivals and contest giveaways, is it such a leap to imagine program directors accepting laptops and plasma televisions and trips to Las Vegas in exchange for spins during peak hours? Or that record labels have teams of interns posing as callers trying to jack up the number of requests for a song-- which, frankly, seems useless under the circumstances?

Is it really so eye-opening to read statements like this, from a Sony exec: "Please be advised that in this week's Jennifer Lopez Top 40 Spin Increase of 236 we bought 63 spins at a cost of $3,600."

Seems pretty cheap to me.

Look, I long for more altruistic radio, wherein DJs play whatever comes to mind or gets requested. And if I didn't have enough CDs to create something similar via my PC, I'd gladly subscribe to a satellite provider.

But I don't see those outlets as mainstream, for they don't take the pulse of average pop listeners; they cater to niches.

Other stations, however, are cruder about hawking hot new things. For that's what radio is best at: pitching products.

Sometimes it's air purifiers and breakfast burritos. Sometimes it's lawyers and doctors you don't need. And sometimes it's music so lousy you wouldn't listen to it if you were paid to.

Welcome to the terminally corrupted entertainment biz, where award nominations can be had by sending out spiffy DVD sets and gift packages, where collusion among a small number of immensely powerful media conglomerates is gross yet unavoidable, where even a cynical schmo like me gets sent a pecan pie from ZZ Top just because I wrote a fond profile. (I let our copy desk scarf it. We have policies about such things.)

It's a you-scratch-mine-I'll-scratch-yours industry, and like it or not --and I don't--payola will survive this setback and persist indefinitely. As it is, labels can still legally barter with tickets and meals and other nominal bribes.

So all I can do is laugh when Spitzer says stations "are the ones most fundamentally violating the public trust."

What trust?! That we trust the radio will continue to play dreck? That we trust stations to operate fairly? Who is he kidding?

It should be obvious by now that this is a con game built on backroom deals later given face-lifts for public display. All Spitzer did was force Sony BMG to offer up the biggest payola ever ($10 mil to essentially go about its business) and score front-page publicity, in a sham where negativity is almost as golden as praise.

But back to my mother: She sees the violation of trust. "Radio didn't matter to me before at all," she told me. "But radio play equates to placement on the charts, which equals hype and sales. When one is invested in someone's career, that becomes, at the very least, interesting information."

She wants her boy (not me, Clay) to succeed. And I can see how frustrating it would be for fans who have been incessantly requesting songs to realize their effort may have been for naught.

Yet, all that irritation says to me is that superiority is being wielded here: It's annoying for Claymaniacs, for example, to see him merely rest in the Top 10 while others (Kelly, Avril, Jessica, whoever) get greater payola push and score a No. 1 smash. They want their boy to be every bit as huge.

To which I say: Mom, platinum sales and scores of spins are not the measure of a man.

[buzztechie]

BT you must feel like ObiWan!!

Ah yes, I am proud of grasshopper SkateJoy!

Hey, if I am ObiWan, does that make Jerome Darth Vader?

[Skatejoy]

Ummm... What does that make me?

[ldyjocelyn]

Technically, it makes you Luke Skywalker. Use the Force, Skatejoy!

Thank you for the gorgeous pictures. I feel like I can't breathe, what with all the clack arriving fast and furious.

[buzztechie]

Technically, it makes you Luke Skywalker.  Use the Force, Skatejoy!

Oh wait. My Star Wars analogy doesnt work. If Skate is Luke and Jerome is Darth Vader, then Jerome is Skate's father. :o

Jerome: *deep, heavy mechanical breathing*

Jerome: Skate. I am your father!

Skate: *looking stunned*

Skate: Nooooooooooo!

Edited August 3, 2005 by buzztechie

[Skatejoy]

Yeah, I'm not too happy with this analogy. A little to squicky for me. Perhaps I can be Leia and he can be Han Solo?????

[KAndre]

So is Clay the Emperor Palatine? Cool! I knew he was an evil genius! Now that is a skit waiting to be written....clack would be the Force, of course...hmmm

I am happily drowning in clack. Y'all know he did this we would become total clack junkies. Of course, I'm downloading everything. Why yes, I am insane, thank you for asking. And I clearly need to fix my Get Right so I can start download 24/7.

Oooo, I luv that man!

[ldyjocelyn]

Yeah, I'm not too happy with this analogy.  A little to squicky for me.  Perhaps I can be Leia and he can be Han Solo?????

I think I'd go with Han Solo and Chewbacca myself...but then I'd like to just be bestest friends with Jerome too.

Heh.

[KAndre]

Brought over with permission from hockeydonna of the CH:

UGANDA BEADS UPDATE

I went over and met with the Bead For Life people.  It was wonderful.  I asked many questions about the organization, its finances, its goals, etc.  She explained and answered all of my questions, openly.  They are a new organization, and they are growing rapidly, but want to do so in a controlled manner.    I wish I had time to write about all the stuff they do in Uganda.... I will say that they don't just throw money over the fence.  In addition to the women getting paid for the beads, they have 2 people employed there who work within the community to improve healthcare, education, and other areas.  They are also working with Habitat For Humanity, and will be building homes for the beaders sometime next year, with volunteers from the U.S. 

They have beads beads beads.  Really nice beads!!  She gave me close to 300 necklaces and bracelets to sell in Cary and Wolf Trap!!  So if you are going to those concerts and have an interest in supporting these people in Uganda, be sure to find me!  I will be at both post-concert-parties.  The bracelets are $5, short necklaces $10, long necklaces $15.  I'm wearing a necklace and a bracelet.

I showed the people there the picture of Clay wearing his beads and they were *very* excited by it!

I will be getting more information and posting it in Fundraisers.

[Ansamcw]

Just sharing some more information from the concert...

Jaymes foster-levy talked alot with the fans...asking them how they liked the new songs...

Regarding the MSNBC reporter...Forgive me..its late but I'll try to remember everything they told me..He told my friends that he had a great time and that he was really impressed with Clay He was asking everyone what it is that draws them to Clay...three years later why are you still interested in him?... of course everyone was quick to educate him

Then he asked them..."I don't mean to sound confrontational, but how do you know it's not just a front...that he is really a nice guy?"...they then proceded to tell him several stories of Clay's kindness including little John from AC, etc..and about the ways he has inspired us to make a difference including projects like the ticket donation project, etc.

He thought the cellcerts were really cool...thought it was awesome that we share our concert experiences with everyone....

At the end of the night, someone asked him..."So do you get it now?"

He said..."More than I ever did before"

Hate to be cynical but I will wait for his article to see how much he actually got. But it seems like he is starting from a good perspective.

[Couch Tomato]

OMG, I finally watched some clack. Whey didn't ya'll tell me? Oh you did. Yes I've heard the concert multiple times but hadn't watched much more than Elvis medley and Back For More... I had no idea the boy was ACTING. And he's so good!! He's pretty much got the right attitude for every era.

OK maybe it's the clack angles but this feels like The CLAY --- Quiana and Angela show. Jacob seems to have less of a showcase. Or maybe I need to get past the 70s. Puff Daddy Clay has his "wifey" and his girlfriend on the side..and he's having a hell of a lot of fun. I'm just in awe.

I'll tell ya'll right now. I HATED Grease. Don't think it was cute. Don't care if he did it for us. I can barely watch it to this day because he was so darn self conscious. It made me uncomfortable. (vocals rocked though!!). Where did that Clay go. No he isn't the best dancer in the world but is he is a thousand times better than he was on that Idol stage. So not another word about any stupid nap from me. Clay has been working and working HARD. Everything just seems so free and easy for him and I have to say...I am one proud fan! Go Clay!

Is it August 27th yet? No? Damn!

[KAndre]

I forgive you for hating my "Grease" - I think, yeah, he was uncomfortable in that "I can't believe I'm DOING this kinda way" and those kinds of performances have a high all their own and at least from two of the people he was performing for, he got the exact reaction he should have - they were entertained. And even more, it was memorable..and I really think Clay wanted and wants to be memorable. But the new stuff? Hell, it's the freebase of clack!

And I gotta agree about the The CLAY --- Quiana and Angela show -- he sets this up from the beginning - and again, to me it's clear Clay is fulfillment a teenage fantasy - he strolls in, too cool for school, snaps his fingers, two girls (in ponytails) scamper over to him, giggling and charmed - he shows them off to his audience, and then does his Fonzie thing. Jacob is the also popular and cool sidekick, just definitely not as popular and cool as Mack Daddy Clay, because that makes Clay even cooler to have a mucho cool sidekick.

Still not August 27th. Dammit.

[Skatejoy]

One of the other reasons it's the Quiana and Angela show is that they both KILL on their solos. Jacob - not as much.

[ShelleyC]

Actually, as much as Jacob isn't my favourite (at all), I thought he killed on "Rock With You"...

[ldyjocelyn]

I forgive you for hating my "Grease" - I think, yeah, he was uncomfortable in that "I can't believe I'm DOING this kinda way" and those kinds of performances have a high all their own and at least from two of the people he was performing for, he got the exact reaction he should have - they were entertained.  And even more, it was memorable..and I really think Clay wanted and wants to be memorable.  But the new stuff?  Hell, it's the freebase of clack!

I too loved the Grease performance -- because he had the balls to try something potentially polarizing that far into the competition. Me, I laughed myself silly during it. Couldn't believe he was actually trying to dance, and found myself even more charmed by the man. Listened to the performance later, and was simplye floored by how good the vocals were.

And I gotta agree about the The CLAY --- Quiana and Angela show -- he sets this up from the beginning - and again, to me it's clear Clay is fulfillment a teenage fantasy - he strolls in, too cool for school, snaps his fingers, two girls (in ponytails) scamper over to him, giggling and charmed - he shows them off to his audience, and then does his Fonzie thing.  Jacob is the also popular and cool sidekick, just definitely not as popular and cool as Mack Daddy Clay, because that makes Clay even cooler to have a mucho cool sidekick.

One of the little touches I've noticed in the 50's segement is that Jacob has on the nerd cardigan sweater and the glasses with the tape on the bridge. I find it incredibly funny that the guy who was the self admitted dork in high school (that's Clay, don't ya know) is now the coolest of the cool, while Jacob (whom I can see as probably being a ladies man in high school) as the nerd sidekick.

couchie, I know you've never particularly cared for Jacob, and I agree that he showboats a bit too much. But -- first of all -- I think the ONLY reason that the saxophone work is "much better" during this tour is because he's playing an alto sax instead of the soprano sax. The soprano sax is a much shriller instrument as a whole, and therefore more intrusive. I personally thought that during the NAT his playing was fine, it was just the instrumentation was wrong. For this tour, with the alto, it fits better. Also, I believe that Jacob and Clay's voice are OUTSTANDING together. One of the highlights of the tour to me I think will be EOTR -- from what I've heard from the cellcerts and clips, there's some gorgeous harmonizing going on.

Still not August 27th.  Dammit.

August 18 for me. That calendar can't move fast enough.

[Skatejoy]

I agree that Jacob and Clay are outstanding together. Fields of Gold just floored me.

I have a confession to make. Despite being a semi-bureaucrat, I'm really bad with acronyms. Anyone want to help out and make a glossary of the acronyms of song names for this tour? It was one thing when it was the MOAM songs and a few others, but this tour has a LOT of songs and I'm not keeping up very well.

[KAndre]

Just to pop in with a total non-sequiter:

Clay is a TOTAL FUCKING CONTROLLING SWEETHEART AND I LOVE HIM.

Back to the backups - I am about to speak some heresy - I think the three backups are about equal in talent (that is to say, they are really good, not great, not particularly unique, but really, really good - and within their strengths, fairly versatile. And their strengths do slant strongly toward R&B, which had to be a deliberate choice on Clay's part, because while he has a superlative old-school R&B style, he is much more broad based....what I would consider 'classic pop' - a heinz 57 of rock, country, R&B, bluegrass, soul - very middle American musically. Back to the backups - I think Quiana strikes people as better because she definitely stays within her comfort zone - smack dab in the middle of her strengths - while Jacob plays more along the edges of his talent (Angela too, but not as much as Jacob). When they are good, they all are very, VERY good.

Acronym list? I can do that! (not that I've seen some of these so I'm guessing)

First Act

TTNA - Twisting the Night Away

ATH - At the Hop

JBG - Johnnie B Goode

RR - Rockin Robin

GP - The Great Pretender

OY - Only You

MS - Mr. Sandman

TBTD - That’ll be the Day

GBoF - Great Balls of Fire

RRIHS - Rock and Roll is Here to Stay

UM - Unchained Melody

LTM – Love Me Tender

HD - Hound Dog

BSS - Blue Suede Shoes

DBC - Don’t Be Cruel

HH - Heartbreak Hotel

JR - Jailhouse Rock

ICHFL - Can't Help Falling in Love

SM - Suspicious Minds

DB – Daydream Believer (I think the CB is calling this Sleepy Jean, talk about your misheard lyrics!)

Downtown

CBML - Can’t Buy Me Love

SS - Sugar, Sugar

HT - Happy Together

Solitaire

WDOLG – Where Did Our Love Go?

MTtG - Midnight Train to Georgia

MG- My Girl

ToaC - Tears of a Clown

RM - Rescue Me

HTTG - I Heard it Through the Grapevine

RO - Reach Out (I’ll Be There)

Think (also called Freedom by people who don't know any better)

ANMHE - Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

Carwash

WAN - December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)

September

NOB - Nights on Broadway

TMH - Too Much Heaven

IFTEM - I Feel the Earth Move

Mandy

BOTW - Bridge Over Troubled Water

WDC - When Doves Cry

ANL - All Night Long

NGGYU - Never Gonna Give You Up

Alone

RWY - Rock with You

Sailing

UCTT – You Can’t Touch This

BV -Black Velvet

EotR - End of the Road

Iris

LLVL - Livin La Vida Loca

ICMYLM - I Can’t Make You Love Me

IWALY - I Will Always Love You

IWCY - I Will Carry You

TW - The Way

WYSYLM - When You Say You Love Me

BFM - Back for More

JY -Just You

Invisible

[Couch Tomato]

I love Jacob as a backup singer...just didn't like his saxophone playing. Thanks for explaining the differences in his playing on this tour.

[atinal]

K'Andre I'm not sure I'd agree that the backups are equal in their talents or strengths. I like them all, but I do think Quiana stands out from the other two. I'll give you a couple of reasons "I" feel that way. When I went to the JNT, I loved, loved, loved it. Clay's singing was sublime, all throughout, but Quiana's "Grownup Christmas Wish" made the hair stand up on my arms. You know, it was an involuntary reaction. I think that maybe the same thing that happens with IWALY, it just gets a reaction. I don't get that kind of reaction from the other 2, I think they are very talented backup singers, I think Jacob's voice and Clay's blend very well on harmonies, and that he can sing some genres pretty well. Now, Angela, I think she is good, but wouldn't put her in the same class as Quiana. She get's screechy sometimes, an example of this is "Suspicious Minds"

GMA, I love it all the way through til the end where she hits those 2 screechy notes, and feel like her mic should be turned way down or off, ha. I just think she overdoes it sometimes.

Now, I would like to add this disclaimer, K'Andre, that even though I disagree with you on this one little item, I would still happily consider myself a minion. So, on to World Domination.